Russia has expressed its desire to restore rail service with Georgia via Abkhazia.

Work is underway to unblock all damaged routes in the Caucasus, including the possibility of restoring rail service between Russia and Georgia through the territory of Abkhazia.

The Russian side is considering the possibility of restoring rail service with Georgia through the territory of Abkhazia, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk.

Responding to a media question about work to further unblock economic and transport links in the South Caucasus region, the Deputy Prime Minister noted that "work is underway to unblock all damaged routes in the Caucasus."

"The possibility of restoring rail service between the Russian Federation and Georgia through the territory of Abkhazia is also being considered," Interfax quotes him as saying.

He added that Moscow is beginning substantive negotiations with Yerevan on the restoration of two sections of Armenian railways, which will ensure their connection with Azerbaijani railways near the city of Yeraskh and the railways roads of Turkey near the village of Akhuryan, RIA Novosti reports.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who served as Prime Minister in 2023, addressed parliament and raised the issue of restoring the railway through Abkhazia. "I was asked under what circumstances it would be possible to restore the Abkhaz railway. There is only one answer: only if our country is united and unified," Sputnik Georgia quoted him as saying at the time.

There has been no rail service between Georgia and Russia via Abkhazia since the early 1990s, when Georgia lost control of the region.

As a reminder, on August 8, 2008, Russia intervened in the armed conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia and subsequently recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Since then, Georgia considers Abkhazia and South Ossetia to be territories occupied by Russia, according to a "Caucasian Knot" report on the 2008 Five-Day War.

On November 9, 2011, Russia and Georgia signed a bilateral agreement concerning customs administration and trade monitoring. The Swiss company SGS was tasked with monitoring the flow of goods through Abkhazia and South Ossetia between Georgia and Russia. According to a contract signed on December 19, 2017, between Georgia and SGS, alternative transport corridors to the Georgian Military Highway may be used only in cases of force majeure. On February 7, 2017, in Prague, representatives of the Georgian and Russian governments agreed to implement the 2011 agreement on customs administration and monitoring of trade in goods, allowing the two countries to develop trade, economic, and transport relations through Abkhazia and South Ossetia without addressing the status of these territories. In January, however, official Tbilisi opposed the opening of customs checkpoints in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.